Is Paul Ryan for or against Ayn Rand?

[spanone]

(CNN) -- People don't generally care what politicians read. But Rep. Paul Ryan is different. His fascination with the Russian-born novelist Ayn Rand could spell trouble for the GOP's new vice-presidential candidate. It could put him at odds with the Christian right and the Roman Catholic Church.

It all depends how much you believe that he is in the thrall of Ayn Rand.

Rand (1905-1982) is controversial because of the extremism of her views. In researching my recent book, I found that Rand's influence on the Republican Party, which dates back as far as her endorsement of Wendell Willkie in 1940, has been sharply growing, largely due to her vise-like hold on the imagination of the tea party and people like Ryan.

Rand was the author of two best-selling novels, "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged." These books, along with her other novels and essays, set forth an ideology which she called objectivism. Her books have sold in the millions and appeal to people ranging from Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to the rock band Rush. (Rush's lyricist and drummer, Neil Peart, only this year renounced his interest in Rand, three decades after writing the songs her work inspired.)

[HereSince1628]

1. Paul Ryn cherry-picks (Door County?) from Ayn Rand.

Last edited Tue Aug 14, 2012, 06:02 PM - Edit history (2)

The truth is Ryn is in terrific conflict with Rand who was a virulent, if not rabid, atheist, who supported abortion rights, and who fought to suppress laws that punished gays and lesbians.

Ryn like many many other conservatives seeks a source of authority like a book, or a philosopher or a POPE, upon which to hang his advocacy.

Ayn provides that. As very very few people have ever worked through her turgid prose Ryn exploits their ignorance of Rand's actual positions and with tweezer-like precision, picks free-reign Thatcherite Capitalism as representing her wacky philosophy.

[Iggy]

2. It's basically too late for this debate

Ryan has already sang the praises of the horrid Ayn Rand, so now he's stuck justifying how a "good
Catholic" like him adores a libertine who believed in abortion and for years slept with one of her main
disciples-- with the knowledge of all spouses involved.

if you want an even larger condemnation of "objectivism", look no further than economic "genius" Alan
Greenspan, who was an early adopter of Rand's "philosophy", and a devoted disciple.

Greenspan took it to it's "logical" conclusion, advocating getting rid of the Glass-Steagall Act, which totally
threw open the barn door to the very financial malfeasance and fraud that drove us ultimately into the
ditch.

Greenspan was so utterly stupid regarding human nature-- thanks in part to objectivism and his naive
notion re: "the markets will correct/police themselves" that he now looks like a total moron. He has
_zero_ credibility now.